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When you select someone, you naturally expect him or her to be fit and resilient enough to do the necessary work. And what about looking for reliable indications that they will contribute positively to management of health and safety of other employees at work? If you can't alwaays rely absolutely on what candidates tell you during selection, how can you improve your assessment proceses so that they don't discriminate unfairly yet sort out the very vulnerable and those likely to endanger safety of others? |
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What the High Court has told us
Our central concern is to stimulate and support partnerships betwen management and their workforces by continually focusing everyone's attention and actions on their own safety beheaviour, health and wellbeing and on that of the people with whom they work.
In reality, many events in life and in work can appear to be 'random', in the simple sense that they are outcomes with an equal chance of occurring as any other outcome. For that reason,they can be usefully analysed statistically. As occupational psychologists, we offer human potential economics of statistical reasoning so you are in a position to better get to grips with important but ambigiuos aspects of behaviour of people, both leaders and followers, in many work situations.
Safety, health and human resource management are areas of work in which appropriate statistical reasoning can reduce or eliminate many sources of error, physial and psychological harm as well as open up paths of reinforcing desired behaivour. Perhaps by introducing relevant tools and techniques to you, and providing templates and guides, we can help you to improve the productivity in these areas in your own organisation.
Reliable and valid psychological assessment
Early in 2009, Cheltenham borough Council sued its former Managing Director,Christine Laird, who had left them on grounds of ill-health retirement, for damages because she was alleged to have provided inaccurate information on her application form when applying for the job. Details of the case are given in the court judgement [200] EWHC 1253 (QB).
The essence of the court judgement is that, while Mrs. Laird had suffered from depression before taking up the appointment with Cheltenham Borough Council, she had nonetheless answered accurately the specific questions she had been asked during the selection process. The court found in her favour on the grounds that she had answered honestly to a selection questionnaire that was not well composed.
Looking at the small print from a legal angle is important but any questionnaire that is not statistically standardised on the basis of comparisons with other people doing similar work is seldom likely to provide an adequate balance of information. On the one hand, you need assurance that any assessment reveals strengths and limitations of each candidate as well as possible, so that you can assess how fit they are in every sense; on the other hand, you need to ensure that any discrimination is fair and that adjustments that a vulnerable candidate might require may simply not be possible in the real world.
In addition to a sound medical questionnaire, you can use well-validated questionnaires to compare features of the personalities of candidates, likely to show how they compare in relation to data on large samples of other adults, in the workplace.
In the process, souind safety and health management practices are dovetailed with the critical H R management practices about fair selection for people of the right calibre.
Tailored solutions to your requirements
When you think of it, few decisions are more important in any organisation than how you select those you want. How well they fit in and add to the collective strength of your workplace plays a vital part in how you well you are going to function.
We should be pleased to assist you to carry through this important task, every step of the way or simply at stages of psycchological assessment. We can provide tailored solutions to your requirements.